Mission Coal files for bankruptcy—5th coal company in 3 years

A Tennessee coal mining company that filed for bankruptcy this week is the second coal company to go bankrupt during Donald Trump’s pro-coal presidency. It’s also the fifth U.S. coal industry bankruptcy in the last three years as competitors in the energy market continue to drive coal into the dust pile.

Mission Coal, an operator of three mines in West Virginia and one in Alabama, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday listing about $175 million in debt and just $55,000 cash on hand, according to court filings. This small company joins Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal, one of the country’s oldest coal companies, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, and Peabody Energy, Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources, which all have ended up in bankruptcy courts since 2015.